HeadFirst Group and Between Staffing Group join forces
HeadFirst Group, active in the flexible labor and external hiring market, acquires industry peer Between Staffing Group. In a constantly evolving labor market, the demand for full service HR service providers is increasing and scalability is a key success factor. By combining the strengths of HeadFirst Group and Between, the new group is optimally positioned to seize market opportunities and continue its growth strategy together.
Between Staffing Group, consisting of the Between, FastFlex, Yellow Friday and EXPR brands, is one of the largest intermediaries for temporary employment in the Netherlands; every day over four thousand professionals work for clients through the organization. HeadFirst Group provides a broad spectrum of solutions for flexible labor, including contracting, matchmaking, msp services and hiring consultancy. More than ten thousand professionals work through HeadFirst Group every day for over three hundred and fifty clients in Europe, generating an annual turnover of over €1 billion. Together, HeadFirst Group and Between are the market leader in the Benelux in organizing external hiring.
Full service HR service provider
Han Kolff, CEO of HeadFirst Group: "The merger of HeadFirst and Between strengthens our position as a full service HR service provider. We hold the key to expand this role, nationally and internationally. With our smart online solutions, rich data and expert consultants, we increase the customer experience every day. I look forward to jointly realizing our ambitions."
Rein Buijtelaar, CEO of Between Staffing Group, added: "HeadFirst Group's energy and ambition aligns very well with Between's DNA. We complement each other well, as evidenced by the complementary customer portfolio and our different sourcing formulas. Together we have a winning online platform on which supply and demand in the flexible labor market come together. I look forward to the next steps of the new combination."
In addition to clients, HeadFirst Group sees the suppliers and independent professionals (zp'ers) in its network as equally important customer groups. Kolff: "With this step we become even more interesting for suppliers and self-employed professionals. Together we form the largest assignment platform in the Netherlands, where these entrepreneurs have direct access to hundreds of clients. But together we can also innovate faster and on a larger scale. This contributes to our profile as the partner for a 'life long flexible career'."
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is the market leader in the Benelux in the professional organization of external hiring. The organization offers a diversity of flex solutions, including contracting, matchmaking, msp services and business consultancy. Every day more than ten thousand professionals work for over 350 clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of over 1 billion euros. The main brands of HeadFirst Group are intermediary HeadFirst, Myler and MSP service provider Staffing Management Services.
About Between Staffing Group
Between Staffing exists since 2000 and searches, finds and contracts professionals for interim assignments with major clients. The company works from the strength of personal staffing and total market access, advises on hiring processes and benchmarks on quality and rates. Clients include much of central government, banks, insurers, provinces, universities, multinationals and system integrators. Between realized annual sales of approximately 475 million euros in 2019.
For further information
Do you have any questions or comments in response to this press release? Please feel free to contact Bart van der Geest, manager of marketing & communications at HeadFirst Group, reachable at 023 - 568 56 30 or bart.vandergeest@headfirst.nl.
HeadFirst Group attracts €75 million investment from Kartesia
HeadFirst Group ("HeadFirst"), the market leader in professionally organizing external hiring, has raised an initial investment of 75 million euros from Kartesia. The investor will receive a minority stake in HeadFirst, which has more than ten thousand professionals working daily for hundreds of clients.
The flex market is developing and especially the segment of intermediaries and managed service providers, in which HeadFirst is big, is growing fast. The organization is active with its platform solutions in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Scandinavia, Poland and Switzerland and sees opportunities to add clients in other European countries. CEO Han Kolff of HeadFirst explains, "The support of a strong financial partner like Kartesia helps to accelerate our growth strategy, both in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe. The focus here is on perpetuating and expanding HeadFirst's role as a full service HR service provider, innovating with smart online solutions and adding value to our clients with rich data."
With Kartesia, HeadFirst has found a partner that fits well with the company and its entrepreneurial culture. Kartesia is a leading investor for mid-market companies in Europe. Recently, Kartesia has invested in a number of technology companies in the business services sector, including Sewan, the French market leader in digital telephony, Richardson Sales Performance, the global leader in sales training and performance improvement, and MAIN Energie, a provider of innovative energy supply solutions aimed at SMEs throughout the Netherlands.
Jean Diercxsens, managing director of Kartesia, added: "HeadFirst is one of the leading players in the HR services market in the Benelux, offering innovative value-added solutions to its large network of clients, suppliers and independent professionals. The group has a proven track record of both organic growth and growth through acquisitions, gaining market share through technologically advanced services in a competitive environment. We look forward to working closely with the team to continue to leverage the company's potential across Europe."
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is the market leader in the Benelux in the professional organization of external hiring. The organization offers a diversity of flex solutions, including contracting, matchmaking, msp services and business consultancy. Every day more than ten thousand professionals work for over 350 clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of over 1 billion euros. The main brands of HeadFirst Group are intermediary HeadFirst, Myler and MSP service provider Staffing Management Services.
About Kartesia
Kartesia is a pan-European, independent and private investment fund. It focuses on facilitating tailor-made investments to leading mid-market companies from a wide range of high-growth sectors. Kartesia manages over €2.5 billion in assets, which it does with a team of fifty experienced professionals from across its investment and management teams, led by its four founders and also managing partners. The group has offices in Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Munich and Paris.
For further information
Do you have any questions or comments in response to this press release? Please feel free to contact Bart van der Geest, manager of marketing & communications at HeadFirst Group, reachable at 023 - 568 56 30 or bart.vandergeest@headfirst.nl.
HeadFirst Group appoints Han Kolff as CEO
HeadFirst Group, market leader in professionally organizing external hiring, has appointed Han Kolff - also chairman of the board - as CEO. He takes over this role from Gert-Jan Schellingerhout.
The organization's growth strategy, both nationally and internationally, will continue under the leadership of Han Kolff. The focus here is on perpetuating and expanding its role as a full service HR service provider, innovating with smart online solutions and adding value with rich data. Han Kolff: "We believe that scale, strengthened by our online platform, and combined with a personal approach is the key to success. I look forward to realizing our ambitions together."
In 25 years, market leader in external hiring
Schellingerhout has spent twenty years in various roles with the organization, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Schellingerhout: "Together, we have grown the organization from 3 employees to over 150 now. We serve hundreds of wonderful clients by connecting them to our network of thousands of suppliers and independent professionals. I am enormously proud to have been able to spend two decades with a passionate team building the organization as it stands today: the market leader in organizing external hiring."
About Han Kolff
Kolff has a long track record at major international organizations, including ten years in HR services. He held executive positions at Randstad, Danone and Heineken, among others. He has also been involved in digital business transformations, HR tech startups and scale-ups. Since March of this year, Kolff has already held the position of chairman of the board at HeadFirst Group.
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is the market leader in the Benelux in the professional organization of external hiring. The organization offers a diversity of flex solutions, including contracting, matchmaking, msp services and business consultancy. Every day more than 10,000 professionals work for over 350 clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of over 1 billion euros. The main brands of HeadFirst Group are intermediaries HeadFirst and Myler and msp service provider Staffing Management Services.
For further information
Do you have any questions or comments in response to this press release? Please feel free to contact Bart van der Geest, manager of marketing & communications at HeadFirst Group, reachable at 023 - 568 56 30 or bart.vandergeest@headfirst.nl.
HeadFirst Group and ONL voor Ondernemers are joining forces as of March 1. Last week Gert-Jan Schellingerhout, CEO HeadFirst Group, and Mike Korenvaar, CFO HeadFirst Group, signed the cooperation agreement together with ONL chairman Hans Biesheuvel. Both parties will act together for a fair flexible labor market in which hirers and providers of knowledge - and organizations that connect them - have room to do business. Monitoring and positively influencing labor market legislation, with the replacement of the Wet DBA in the lead, is a spearhead.
Getting lost in political Hague
ONL, located in the heart of The Hague and a stone's throw from the Binnenhof, as an independent foundation is the link between HeadFirst Group and politicians in The Hague. "Over the years, ONL has built a large network of politicians, civil servants and policy officers. The office in The Hague offers the opportunity to be 'close to the fire' and engage with policymakers. In addition, ONL provides political monitoring, so that we as an organization remain informed of relevant developments. A good next step in our public affairs and lobbying strategy," said Schellingerhout. "We also think we can add value to ONL with our knowledge, data and relationships with tens of thousands of clients, suppliers and the self-employed. Together we will work for the higher goal: to give entrepreneurs space."
About ONL for Entrepreneurs
ONL voor Ondernemers aims to make the Netherlands more entrepreneurial together. The entrepreneurs' organization makes the voice of the entrepreneur heard by lobbying, raising problems and proposing solutions for issues that affect entrepreneurs. ONL takes a critical stance against ramshackle legislation, such as the DBA Act and the Employment and Security Act, but not without presenting a well thought-out alternative that will benefit entrepreneurs.
HeadFirst Group rises to second spot in Flexmarkt Turnover Ranking
HeadFirst Group climbs to second place in the Flexmarkt Turnover Ranking Top-100 2020, published this week, which lists the 100 largest flex companies in the Netherlands based on their revenue in 2019. Whereas last year we made the top 3 for the first time and were the biggest grower in the flex market, we reach a new milestone with the second spot. With a turnover of over 1 billion, we are proud to be the largest - and growing - intermediary and MSP service provider in the Benelux.
The Flexmarkt Turnover Ranking Top-100 is a prestigious list, which companies in the flex market look forward to every year. Mike Korenvaar, CFO at HeadFirst Group: "This list visualizes the giant steps we are taking as an organization. Last year we experienced organic growth of over EUR 100 million, a 13% increase over 2018. An unprecedented achievement in a year that, after two acquisitions, was partly marked by operational integration of working methods and locations in Utrecht, Rotterdam and Hoofddorp and the migration of the various IT systems. That makes me enormously proud."
Coronacrisis won't get hiring market down
Still, it is extraordinary to look back at 2019 figures when we are currently in the midst of the corona crisis. The economy is under considerable pressure, which naturally also has its impact on the hiring of flexible labor. Gert-Jan Schellingerhout, CEO at HeadFirst Group, explains his view: "We saw that the number of new hiring requests dropped rapidly in March. The pandemic also had its impact on the number of hours worked by the 12,000 professionals working for clients through us. However, we can say overall that the impact has been limited for us so far. The type of professional we mediate, mostly highly educated knowledge workers and often working in mission-critical processes in organizations, can perform their work at our clients largely remotely. And we have a good, healthy spread of clients in various industries, including many government organizations that have remained a stable hire."
These observations provide a slightly positive outlook. Schellingerhout: "Despite the corona pandemic and a number of uncertainties, we are continuing our growth and acquisition strategy. As we are, entrepreneurial and hard-working, we are pulling out all the stops to still make 2020 the celebration year we originally envisioned because of our 25th anniversary."
Source: flexmarkt.co.uk
About Flexmarkt Turnover Ranking Top-100
The Flexmarkt Turnover Ranking provides an overview of flex companies, from small to large, providing a variety of services in staffing and hiring. In addition to staffing agencies, it includes numerous payroll companies, as well as secondment companies, zzp intermediaries and MSP service providers. The Flexmarkt Turnover Ranking Top-100 is published annually by Flexmarkt in cooperation with Corporate Finance International (CFI). This leading ranking covers more than half of the total Dutch flex industry in terms of turnover and thus provides a clear, representative picture of developments in the market.
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is market leader in the Benelux in the professional organization of external hiring. The organization offers a diversity of flex solutions, including contracting, payrolling, matchmaking, global sourcing, Managed Service Providing and business consultancy. Currently, more than 12,000 professionals work daily for over 200 clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of over 1 billion euros. Part of HeadFirst Group are the organizations HeadFirst, Myler, Staffing Management Services, Source, Pitch Payroll and Select.
For further information
Do you have any questions or comments in response to this message? Please contact Bart van der Geest, manager of marketing & communications at HeadFirst Group, at 023 - 568 56 30 or bart.vandergeest@headfirst.nl.
Group of flex companies continues under new name
Suitcase filled with flex solutions symbolizes composition of HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst, Source, Myler and Staffing Management Services are united in HeadFirst Group. The composition of these companies enables HeadFirst Group to provide a solution for any hiring issue. The organization, which went off the Amsterdam stock exchange at the end of 2018, was still trading under the name HeadFirst Source Holding but the management now announces that it will continue as HeadFirst Group. With the aim of simplifying the name, but above all clarifying the story to clients.
Solution for every hiring issue
According to Gert-Jan Schellingerhout, CEO at HeadFirst Group, HeadFirst Group's strength lies in creating value by serving organizations across the board with flex services. "We see our group as a suitcase filled with solutions - such as contracting, payrolling, matchmaking, global sourcing, Managed Service Providing and business consultancy - with which we support and guide our clients in the journey to a professional hiring process for every hiring issue." Which solution is most appropriate depends on the organization and its needs. Schellingerhout: "Our business consultants use analyses and discussions with the client to determine what stage of hiring maturity an organization is in. Based on that, we recommend a type of service."
Label strategy remains spearhead
The organizations HeadFirst, Myler and Source have been united to benefit from synergy advantages, such as streamlining work processes, economies of scale and sharing expertise. Staffing MS remains an independent business unit within the group, anchoring its independence - which is essential as a Managed Service Provider. Staffing MS does use the strengths of the group.
HeadFirst Group is the umbrella brand above all the companies, offering the wide range of flex services to clients under one common name. Schellingerhout agrees that working from HeadFirst Group has advantages. He does stress that for the time being the label strategy will also be retained. "The various brands have a powerful name, to which our relations also have a strong connection. Therefore, we are not just saying goodbye to them."
International footprint
HeadFirst Group is also taking steps towards a leading role internationally. Schellingerhout: "Besides the Benelux, we are already active in Germany, Scandinavia, Switzerland and Italy, among others. We want to further expand our market share in Europe by convincing clients of our unique services, based on our extensive experience in the Benelux. A common name and common story contribute to this."
About HeadFirst Group
HeadFirst Group is market leader in the Benelux in the professional organization of external hiring. The organization offers a diversity of flex solutions, including contracting, payrolling, matchmaking, global sourcing, Managed Service Providing and business consultancy. Currently, approximately 9,500 professionals work daily for over two hundred clients in Europe, with which HeadFirst Group realizes an annual turnover of approximately 950 million euros. Part of HeadFirst Group are the companies HeadFirst, Myler, Staffing Management Services, Source, Pitch Payroll and Designated Professionals.